10 Lessons WWE Shouldn’t Forget From WCW’s History

4. Stop With The Stupid Gimmicks

Funny doesn't equal money. That has been the motto of professional wrestling for decades. There is certainly a place for comedy matches on a card but to consistently have comedy characters that are supposed to be funny is a deathblow for drawing cash. WCW was the king of bad gimmicks. This was the promotion who gave us the Ding Dongs, a tag team who was covered in bells from head to toe and had one member constantly ringing a bell during the match. Mike Awesome went from being the ECW world champion to being the "Fat Chick Thriller" and then "That 70s Guy". Even Booker T, one of the bright spots in the promotion's dying days, morphed into GI Bro, a military gimmick, towards the end of WCW's run. Not every person on the roster needs a gimmick or some sort of characteristic to drive their motivations. Whenever a rookie would approach Jim Cornette in developmental with a gimmick idea, he would always stop them and say "what's your name?" When the guy said his name, Cornette would reply with "alright, that's your ring name and your gimmick is that you're a wrestler." Now, we have a midget dressed as a bull fighting another midget in an alligator costume because someone on the writing staff found it "funny". Instead, the crowd turns on the match almost instantly and chants "this is boring" throughout the contest. How does this help WWE? Let's not forget poor Nattie Neidhart who was stuck with a farting gimmick because God knows she couldn't possibly get over on her wrestling ability. Today's wrestling reminds fans of the mid-1990s, when everyone in the WWF had a job on the side. We had a wrestling pig farmer, a wrestling hockey player, a wrestling plumber, a wrestling garbageman, etc. Today, we continually get goofy gimmicks like the Matadores who only seem to exist to entertain the creative team.